Eden Found?By John Van Auken

Imagine an archaeological site that predates ancient Egypt by 9000 years, dating to the end of the Ice Age, ca. 12,000 BC, long before hunter-gatherers settled into farming. Imagine that you also found objects of high artistic skill and metaphorical significance to equal those of the much later Egyptian culture. How would you reconcile this with our evolutionary timeline? How would you explain nomadic hunter-gatherers devoting the time and energy to build a multi-level, architecturally sophisticated structure? This is the challenge facing archaeologists today. One does not have to imagine such a site because the site has been found. It is called Gobekli Tepe (pronounced Go-beckly Tepp-ay). It is located between the biblical Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Sanliurfa, Turkey (ancient Urfa, the original Ur of the Chaldees, where Abraham was born). Some archaeologists suspect this site to be none other than the biblical Eden, or at least a sacred temple in ancient Eden.

David Lewis-Williams, professor of archaeology at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, says, “Gobekli Tepe is the most important archaeological site in the world.”

Andrew Collins, A.R.E. author (Beneath the Pyramids, The New Circlemakers) and speaker, said, “Gobekli Tepe was clearly utilized as a place of veneration and perhaps communication with supernatural entities and domains. This is accepted by the main excavator, Dr. Klaus Schmidt of the German Archaeological Institute of Istanbul. Curiously, in the Turkish language, Gobekli Tepe means ‘hill of the navel,’ suggestive of the site's former role as an important religious center.”

The site has been carbon-dated to 12,000 to 13,000 BC. The building dates to between 10,000 and 11,000 BC—Edgar Cayce’s 10,500 BC period! Scientists date Stonehenge to around 3,000 BC and the Egyptian Giza plateau monuments to around 2,500 BC. To help us grasp just how impossible this is for archaeologists, this dating predates all other sites on the planet by 7000 years. It predates settled human life, writing, pottery making, and structure building.

Amazingly, the site is filled with megalithic stone structures in the shape of a T, upon which are carved all manner of animals and mysterious images. Some of the stones are shaped like the human body. It's as if the gods came down from heaven, or aliens from another planet, and built Gobekli Tepe when humans were cavemen. And that is exactly what some researchers are saying. In chapter six of Genesis, it is written that there were at this ancient time humans (“man”), the “sons of God,” and the Nephilim (offspring of the gods and human women, considered to be giants). The Book of Enoch tells of “Watchers” who came among humans giving them the forbidden arts and sciences of heaven. Legends of Sumeria speak of gods called Annunaki coming among humanity and providing them with the rudiments of civilization. Collins says, “I believe there is strong evidence to suggest that the Watchers, and their offspring, the Nephilim, were indeed the shamanic elite that founded the early Neolithic cult centers of Upper Mesopotamia.”

Interestingly, this area and the larger region surrounding it became the cradle of agriculture. Worldwide wheat species descend from einkorn wheat, first cultivated on the hills near Gobekli Tepe. Rye and oats also originated here.

Shockingly, archaeologists announced that the occupants of Gobekli Tepe buried the entire site before they left, around 8,000 BC, filling every room, every passageway, and outer courtyard with tons of dirt—a feat almost as remarkable as the buildings and sculptures. The site lay hidden until 1994, when a Kurdish shepherd noticed the tops of several stone megaliths exposed on the unusual hill.

John Van Auken is an international speaker and author on a variety of topics from mystical spirituality and ancient civilizations to modern life. Popular with A.R.E. audiences throughout the country, he has written many books, including Edgar Cayce's Tales of Ancient Egypt;Ancient Egyptian Mysticism; andFrom Karma to Grace: The Power of the Fruits of the Spirit. John's extensive knowledge of the Edgar Cayce readings, the Bible ancient Egypt, and other world religions is combined with years of practical application of these truths in his own life. His exciting presentations are packed with useful information combined with insightful and revealing stories. His clear step-by-step techniques give practical tools for ongoing development, self-training, and spiritual enlightenment. He travels extensively, conducting seminars and retreats throughout the U.S. and abroad including A.R.E.’s annual Tour of Egypt.

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